Don’t worry about the Whos in Whoville this Christmas, it’s America that’s facing a holiday season much more fraught than the one besieged by a Grinch whose heart is three sizes too small.
With around 70 days until Christmas, Americans don’t need to fear a forlorn and grumpy green Grinch showing up to take all their presents and decorations this year but rather a gray and (sometimes) whispering septuagenarian with a penchant for Delaware beaches.
That’s because this year, it’s Joe “Grinch” Biden whose administration is stealing Christmas through policies that are taking away Americans’ ability to afford and receive presents, reunite with family, or even be able to celebrate with others at all. Instead of the Grinch’s canine accomplice Max, Grinch Biden has Anthony Fauci, Pete Buttigieg, Jen Psaki, and the whole of the clumsy federal bureaucracy at his disposal to steal Christmas joy and traditions.
First, there’s President Biden’s vaccine mandates set to be carried out by OSHA in a dubious enforcement scheme that seeks to bring maximum pain to those who choose not to get vaccinated. One of many unintended consequences of Biden’s plan is that pain will also be inflicted on the vaccinated as those who choose to forgo the shot(s) are sidelined by their employers.
The impact of the vaccine mandates is already proving to be wide-reaching, and the full effect of them still has yet to be felt. Just this week, travelers were stranded as Southwest Airlines cancelled thousands of flights. Officially, the airline claimed weather and air traffic control issues were to blame. But a viral photo of a Southwest plane with the Gadsden “Don’t Tread On Me” flag hanging out its cockpit window told another story.
The American Pilots Association (APA) which represents pilots for American Airlines — the carrier flying the most passengers in the world — has already warned of the impact vaccine mandates may have on holiday travel: “Some of APA’s members are unable to undergo vaccination for documented medical reasons, while others are reluctant to get vaccinated based upon concerns about the potential for career-ending side effects,” reads an APA letter. “To force those pilots out of their positions, rather than offering viable alternatives will have adverse consequences upon their families and the airline industry as a whole.”
As demand for travel spikes and the vaccine mandates take hold, Americans can only expect more travel disruptions as airlines fire their employees who choose not to get vaccinated, adding to existing pilot and crew shortages that could make getting over the river and through the woods an expensive, frustrating, and time-consuming endeavour.
Then there’s inflation, another way Biden is inflicting his Grinch-like damage on Christmas as Americans struggle to cover the costs of everyday goods and services while prices continue to hit new highs. The latest data shows that the average American family spends an extra $175 every month due to inflation. And while the Biden administration heralds wage data that supposedly shows Americans are making more money per paycheck, the falsely termed “transitory” inflation has more than wiped out any wage growth.
Even if Americans find they have enough money in their pockets to splurge on gifts for friends and family this year, they might not even be able to get them in time for the holidays. This, too, is thanks to the Biden administration’s lack of preparedness and failure to address a supply chain crisis.
As the White House scrambles (and so far fails) to handle this crisis, they’re not even pretending it’s a crisis the Biden administration has a handle on. Just this week — as Biden finally decided to host meetings with a handful of American companies being impacted by the supply delays and shortages — the White House said “there will be things that people can't get” for Christmas this season. According to Grinch Biden’s crew, “a lot of these goods are hopefully substitutable by other things.” Even as Biden announced his alleged solution to the supply chain crisis on Wednesday, Jen Psaki said the White House “cannot guarantee” that items will arrive in time.
In “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” there’s a point of redemption for the story’s green villain in the end as his heart grows to a normal size and he decides to return the stolen Christmas gifts and trimmings to residents of Whoville. But for Americans this Christmas, there’s little hope that the president set to steal Christmas will recognize the error of his ways.
As one of Quinnipiac’s polling analysts noted, "President Biden could use a holiday season win” to cap off a year that’s been marked with failures and crises at home and abroad. If he doesn’t, the analyst continues, "A slowdown of holiday season deliveries and the financial strain that comes with it would be coal in the stocking for the administration at the close of the first year in office."